John MacDonald: Is the EV bubble about to burst?

New Zealand is about to become a dumping ground for dirty vehicles.  

That’s what the electric vehicle people are saying today about the Government’s urgent changes to the clean car standards for imported vehicles.  

Of course they’re unhappy. Because I reckon they are seeing and we are seeing the EV bubble about to burst.  

I’ll tell you why. I’ll also tell you why you’re not going to hear me ripping into the Government for doing what it’s doing.   

Reason 1: imported petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles are going to be cheaper, and we would all be complaining if the Government wasn’t doing anything about it.

Reason 2: penalising car importers for importing the types of vehicles that people actually want to buy makes no sense to me. And what I’m getting at there is I reckon most people still want to buy petrol or diesel vehicles or hybrids. In fact, with imported petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles likely to be cheaper because of this move by the Government, why would you even bother with an EV? 

That’s why the EV people are so antsy.

And reason 3: I’d be a complete hypocrite if I said otherwise, because I drive petrol cars. One of them is a Toyota Prado that’s been around the block a few times and is a real gas guzzler, and probably isn’t that great for the environment. Not to mention the Vespa 2-stroke nightmare.

I have never had any interest in having an EV. I can’t tell you exactly why, it’s not a protest of any sort. It’s not climate change denial. It’s none of that. And I think most of us are the same. If we can get our hands on a decent petrol, diesel or hybrid vehicle for a decent price, then we’ll do it.

So, as of the end of this week, the penalties car importers get stung with for bringing high-emitting vehicles into the country are going to be slashed by nearly 80%. Which will be music to the ears of the 86% of car importers that Transport Minister Chris Bishop says are facing penalties already.

How the scheme works, is car importers have to meet annual emissions targets.

And when they balance things up at the end of each year, if they’ve brought more dirty cars than clean cars into the country, then they get hit with a penalty, or a charge. Which, of course, gets passed on to customers.

At the other end of things, if they bring-in more clean cars and less dirty cars, they earn credits.

Which sounds great in theory. But, as it stands, most of the importers haven’t been meeting their targets and so they’re facing charges. So the Government is slashing the dirty vehicle charges by 80% to stop that happening.

But the electric vehicle people aren’t happy.

Kirsten Corson is the chair of Drive Electric —which is an advocacy group that wants more of us driving EVs— and she’s saying today that this move by the Government is “embarrassing”.

She says: "If you look at us compared to Australia, in Australia you're paying $100 as a penalty and now we've just slashed that to $15 in New Zealand. So we are going to become a dumping ground for high emission vehicles."

She says: "We keep our vehicles on our road for two decades. The average car is 15-years-old in New Zealand, so the decisions made today are going to impact our transport emissions for the next three decades."

But what do you make of this move by the Government?

Do you think the EV bubble is about to burst?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
New Zealand is about to become a dumping ground for
dirty vehicles. New Zealand is about to become a dumping
ground for dirty vehicles. I'm not saying that. That's what
the electric vehicle people are saying today about the government's
urgent changes to the clean air standards or the clean
car standards for imported vehicles. And of course they're unhappy

(00:37):
because I reckon they're seeing and we are seeing the
ev bubble about to burst. I'll tell you why. I'll
also tell you why you're not going to hear me
ripping into the government for doing what it's doing now.
Reason one, imported petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles are going
to be cheaper, and we would all be complaining if

(00:58):
the government wasn't doing anything about it, wouldn't we be honest? Two,
Penalizing car importers for importing the types of vehicles that
people actually want to buy makes no sense to me.
And what I'm getting at there is I reckon most
people still want to buy petrol or diesel vehicles or
maybe a hybrid. In fact, with imported petrol, diesel and

(01:23):
hybrids likely to be cheaper because of this move by
the government. Why would you even bother with an EV
see that's why the EV people are so antsy. And three,
I would be a complete hypocrite if I said otherwise,
because I drive petrol cars. One of them's a Toya
de Prado. It's been around the block a few times,

(01:45):
and it is a real gas guzzler and probably isn't
that great for the environment. Well, no, it's not great,
not to mention the vesper being the two strike nightmare
that it is. And you know what, I have never
had any interest in having a TV. Can't tell you

(02:06):
exactly why. It's not a protest of any sort. It's
not climate change denial because I'm not a climate change
denial There's none of that. I'm just not interested. I
just haven't been pushed far enough long to even look
into it. And I reckon, I reckon most of us

(02:27):
are the same, and if we can get our hands
on a decent petrol diesel hybrid vehicle for a decent
price from overseas, most of us will do it. So
what's happened as of the end of this week the
penalties that car importers get stung with for bringing high
emitting vehicles or high emission vehicles into the country, they're

(02:47):
going to be slashed by nearly eighty percent, which is
music to the ears of the eighty six percent of
car importers that Chris Bishop says are already facing penalties.
So how the scheme works. It was introduced by the
last government, continued by the current government with a few tweaks,
and how it works. As car porters they have to

(03:08):
meet annual emissions targets and when they balance things up
at the end of each year, and it turns out
they've brought more of the old dirty cars, if we
can call it that. If they brought more dirty cars
and clean cars into the country, then they get hit
with a penalty or a charge, which of course gets
passed on to customers. At the other end of things,

(03:29):
if they bring in more clean cars and less dirty cars,
they earn credits, which sounds brilliant, doesn't it on paper
in theory, But as it stands, most of the importers
haven't been meeting their targets and so they're facing charges
or fines or whatever you want to call them. And
because of that the government is slashing the dirty vehicle

(03:50):
charges by eighty percent. But as I say that, EV
people are not happy. Kirsten Corson is the chair of
an outfit called Drive Electric Drive Electric, which is an
advocacy group that wants more of us driving evs. Well,
to me, they're pushing it up hill, and she is
saying today that this move by the government is quote embarrassing.

(04:16):
She says, if you look at us compared to Australia.
I'm quoting her directly here, if you look at us
compared to Australia. In Australia, you're paying one hundred dollars
as a penalty and now we've just slashed that to
fifteen dollars in New Zealand. So we are going to
become a dumping ground for high emission vehicles. This is
what the chair of Drive Electric is saying. And she

(04:39):
goes on to say that we keep our vehicles on
our road for two decades. The average car is fifteen
years old in New Zealand, so the decisions made today
are going to impact our transport emissions for the next
three decades. So the EV people brassed.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
Off for more from Caterbory Mornings with John McDonald. Listen
live to news talks It'd be christ Church from nine
am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio